Russell Crowe to play Bill Hicks?

Russell Crowe has reportedly begun negotiations to star in a biopic of comedy legend Bill Hicks.

The Australian actor will apparently begin working on the project before he shoots Ridley Scott's Nottingham in 2009.

New Zealander Mark Stauffer is scripting, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Hicks was an American comic who regularly caused controversy with his political, religious and ribald material. He struggled with drink and drug addictions while performing stand-up during the '80s and early '90s.